Bonded at Birth Rewritten
by HopelessBlonde
Summary: “Lucius I want you to swear to me that Draco will always look over my Hermione, he will be her protector and put her life above his.” Rewrite of my old story Bonded at birth.
1. Chapter 1

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Disclaimer: Sadly I own nothing.

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An: I've decided to re-write the story and make it more up to par.

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"With more and more body counts on the rise and even more wizards swearing allegiance with the dark lord it looks as if we are heading into some troubled times." A wizard with dark brown hair and chocolate eyes told the woman sitting across the table from him. She held her hand out and he handed the paper to his wife.

He watched as her eyes scanned the paper, and then finally they clouded over slightly. He knew she was having a vision of what was to come. The fear, shock, and defiance on her face, he knew all too well.

"Alexander, its time." Her voice came out in light musical tones, but held great emotion in it as well. Before he could reply to his wife the sound of an infant crying broke the tension.

Alexander watched as his wife breast fed their only child. The small three month old baby already had a head of bushy brown hair and the same chocolate eyes her parents shared.

"Andromeda, are you positive it will happen tonight?" he asked his eyes and voice hardening at the thought of someone ripping his happy family apart. The brunette looked up from her child and smiled slightly to her husband, "Have I ever been wrong before Alexander?" she then looked back down to the baby who had fallen back asleep at her mother's breast.

"Let us call Dumbledore and Lucius we must act fast, we need to get little Hermione away from the wizarding world as soon as we can."

"Are you sure there isn't another way we can do this?" Alexander begged his wife.

"This is our fate, Alexander; we cannot run away from it. I've seen the future of both choices, and I've seen Hermione's future if we choose the other path. It is our duty as both parents and members of the order of light, which we shall complete tonight."

* * *

At exactly 8:05, Alexander and Andromeda Verona stepped into the forbidden forest where Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy and Albus Dumbledore awaited.

Narcissa ran over to Andromeda and pulled her into a tight hug, "I've missed you so much!" both women held onto each other since they knew it would be the last time they ever got to see each other again.

Alexander and Lucius spoke softly to each other while holding two little bundles.

When the two women pulled apart, Alexander spoke "Lucius I want you to swear to me that Draco will always look over my Hermione, he will be her protector and put her life above his."

Lucius looked down at the baby in his arms, and then to the baby in Alexander's arms. "I swear to you that not only will Draco protect her but I will as well. Hermione is the key to saving us all, and I promise you she will never be in danger."

"So are you going to tell us what the problem is?" Narcissa asked her childhood friends.

Alexander looked to his wife who spoke softly, "Tonight Riddle will come for us and Hermione, as members of the order of light, and we have sworn to protect Hermione from the darkness. We are bonding Hermione and Draco so that Riddle will never be able to track her down; we are sending her to live with one of my Muggle friends." Andromeda sighed heavily to the people surrounding her.

"Tonight Riddle will come to us, and he will kill us." She finished keeping her eyes trained straight in front of her.

Before anyone could respond Dumbledore quickly walked over to the four adults and two children.

"We must hurry, it's almost time." He then grabbed what would be Hogwarts two most prized students and took them into the sacred circle.

"We come here in the darkness and safety of the wood to bond these two children so that neither shall fall into harm. Her power will be his power, his power shall be her power, her pain is his pain and his pain hers. Forever connected in mind body and spirit. l'esprit, corps, et l'esprit, se sont reliés jusqu'à la mort. l'esprit, corps, et l'esprit, se sont reliés jusqu'à la mort."

Dumbledore then made a tiny cut into both children's feet and took Hermione's blood and drew two crescent moons back to back on Draco's back. Taking Draco's blood he did the same thing on Hermione's back. Both children glowed brightly and a burst of power shot out knocking everyone to the ground.

Dumbledore quickly stood and handed Draco to his parents, "Go back to your manor and forget everything of this night." Scooping up Hermione he turned to Andromeda and Alexander, "The sacrifice you two made was great, you will both be rewarded after death. I will take Hermione to the Granger's, you two must head home."

With that each person went their separate ways and the forest was left quiet in its isolation.

* * *

Alexander and Andromeda sat in their study each awaiting the death they knew would soon come. They nervously looked up at each other and jumped slightly when a loud crack erupted.

Tom Riddle stood in the center of the room, "Why hello Alexander. Andromeda." He then took a seat in the chair that allowed him to view the couple perfectly.

"Hello Tom, or should we call you Lord Voldemort now?" Alexander growled. Riddle smiled to the wizard, "Now now Alexander, I've come to offer you one last chance to join my side."

"We will never side with you." Andromeda hissed glaring Tom Riddle down.

Tom walked across the room and sat down next to Andromeda; he cast a binding spell on Alexander, and then placed his hand on Andromeda's thigh.

"Now Andromeda dear, I really would hate to hurt you, but I'm going to be nice and give you another chance. Tell me where your child is and I'll let you live."

Andromeda pulled her wand out ready to hex the dark lord, but in a matter of seconds her wand was gone and she was in a full body bind. "Now now, see what you made me do."

Then a look came across his face that could only be described as sinful, "Imperio." He cast upon Andromeda, he watched as her eyes clouded over with his command.

"You defied me, so now you must pay the price." He smirked evilly to Alexander.

Alexander watched in horror through his body bind as his wife grabbed a knife and began walking slowly towards him, he could tell the horror in her eyes as the knife slashed his flesh over and over again.

Voldemort smiled darkly. "If you would've been cooperative this wouldn't have had to happen." He then made Andromeda set the blood splattered knife down and get on her knees in front of him.

"Bow to me." He demanded, and to the horror of Andromeda and Alexander she did so.

"Excellent, so tell me where the child is."

Voldemort watched as her mouth tried to answer but nothing would come out. He hissed in irritation. "Not many people can resist the Imperius like that. I guess I'll have to find information elsewhere."

Then a burst of green light and a deep crack Andromeda and Alexander Verona were dead.

* * *

Five years later

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A small girl with long bush brown hair and chocolate eyes was playing in a very large perfectly green lawn with a large German shepherd.

Eliza Granger watched as the five year old tripped and the dog jumped on her and licked her face. She smiled slightly; it had been five years since Hermione had been left in her care. Five years and she loved the girl more than anything in the world.

Jack Granger came out of the large house carrying two iced teas, he handed one to his wife and followed her train of sight.

He laughed as he watched the small girl squirming to get out from beneath the dog who was just happily licking the ice cream off the girls face.

Jack watched as a frown appeared onto his wife's face. "What's wrong?" he asked grabbing her hand.

"I'm worried, she isn't like us Jack." She turned back to the girl who was now chasing the dog. "We can't protect her. Not in the way that's needed. When she turns 11 and goes to that school, she is no longer our sweet little girl; she becomes a completely different person. She becomes a witch."

Eliza and Andromeda had been friends since they were very young, and once she turned 11 she knew something was changing with her best friend, Andromeda had never actually told her until they were sixteen. It was a shock to say the least. But it had brought them closer together, and when a strange old wizard had shown up with Andromeda's only child she knew she couldn't deny the poor infant or her best friend.

Jack spoke interrupting his wife's thoughts. "Honey, we can tell her the truth about everything when she is older, I mean the final bonding process won't even happen until her seventh year, and by then she will be 17 and plenty mature enough to handle it."

"I hope so." Eliza replied. Moving vans and trucks caught the attention of the family of three as they watched them pull into the larger home across the street. "They're here." Jack sighed and watched as another family of three with white blonde hair began unpacking.

"Can we trust them?" Eliza asked, watching the new neighbors.

"They were there during the bonding process, and they were there those seven years at Hogwarts learning how to protect Hermione better then we could." Jack watched as Draco and Hermione somehow managed to find each other and begin talking. "I don't think we have any other choice." He sighed.

"I guess." Eliza replied and then huffed when she saw Draco and Hermione rolling around in the dirt fighting. "And they are to be betrothed." she sighed making her way over to the fighting kids.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: I know Jean is her middle name in the books, but I like Elizabeth MUCH better.

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Hermione Elizabeth Granger was now 11 years old. She knew at some point during today she would get her Hogwarts letter.

That's right, she knew she was different, it was apparent the way her parents acted around the ideas of magic and even during movies about witches. What made her finally realize it was when Draco had ripped the head of her favorite Barbie off and before she knew what had happened his entire body was pink. Everything; eyes, hair, teeth all of it was pink.

Another incident involved her causing every light in the Malfoy Household to explode. That was fun to explain to Mr. Malfoy. That was another thing she noticed, that the Malfoy family was 'different' then her own, they seemed able to make things happen like magic while her parents were completely normal.

As she was saying, Hermione had known she was different, odd little things would happen when she had peaks of great emotion. One day she had gotten bored and was looking through things in the Malfoy's attic in which she had found out loads of information about Hogwarts, and the magic she would be learning there. She learned a bit about her mother, her actual mother, since she was obviously good friends with the Malfoy family.

She had found out about her birth mother by snooping around in Eliza Granger's personal belongings which lead to her finding the diaries dating from with Andromeda and Eliza meet all the way to the day Hermione had arrived on the Granger's doorstep.

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted when a brown barn owl swooped into her bedroom with a rather thick letter tied to its leg. Hermione quickly grabbed it and ripped it open.

_Dear Miss Hermione Granger,_

_We are pleased to announce your acceptance into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You are to be at the Hogwarts Train station at 10:00, the platform is 9 ¾ what all you need to buy is listed on the next 5 pages._

_Best wishes,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Dept. Headmistress_

Hermione grinned, this was proof that she wasn't completely nutters for believing she had magical powers, she quickly ran the letter to her Mum and Dad who pretended to be happy for her, but she could tell the worry that was in their eyes.

Later that day her parents went on a trip to Diagon Alley and Hermione stocked up on all the reading material she could find about Hogwarts and its History.

She spent the next three days reading the 12 books she had found. She had learned all about the history of the wizarding world, about some dark lord who disappeared a while back with no signs of him, and about the famous Harry Potter. In addition to the 12 books she had gotten for light reading she had completely finished reading her school books for her first year of Hogwarts.

Starting tomorrow she would be on her way to the wonderful school of magic, she was so excited she couldn't sleep so she decided to head across the street to see what Draco was up to.

"You've already finished reading our school books?" He asked incredulously while tossing the tennis ball against the wall.

Hermione nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah I can't wait; I've already worked out my course schedule for the first five years."

Draco rolled his eyes, why did his best friend have to be so weird. "That's not crazy or anything." He muttered and then felt guilty when he saw the hurt on her face.

"So uh, what house do you want to be sorted into?" he asked trying to change the subject. He smiled when her eyes lit up and she launched into a detailed explanation of the houses.

"Oh I don't know, Gryffindor is all about courage, Hufflepuff is for people that are loyal and true, Ravenclaw is known for the knowledge, and Slytherin is for cunning people." She paused for a second, "I suppose any house would be good except for Slytherin."

Draco got offended, "Whats wrong with Slytherin?"

"Well it's been proven that almost everyone in that house has gone down a darkened path."

Draco rolled his eyes, "My mum and dad were Slytherins, and I will be a Slytherin."

Hermione sighed, "I said ALMOST everyone. I mean Salazar Slytherin himself wasn't the purest person in the world, and then Tom Riddle was also a slytherin and look where it got him. I believe that by being sorted into Slytherin it means you will have a very long and challenging road ahead of you since Slytherin's are cunning and will try to get there way by any means necessary."

"Whats wrong with that?" Draco demanded. "I think Slytherin is the most noble of houses. To be willing to do anything for what you believe in or what you want."

"Yeah except if what you believe in is wrong." Hermione replied crossing her arms, she could feel yet another fight coming on between them.

Instead Draco looked her in the eyes, "And who's to say what's wrong and right?"

"Moral codes."

"And who came up with those moral codes, Hermione?" When she stayed quiet, he continued to speak, "Exactly, humans did, so how do we know that they were the ones in the right?"

"I-I- guess we don't, but I know what feels right and what feels wrong." She replied. "Who doesn't, it's just a matter of if you choose to ignore that gut feeling or not."

Hermione raised an eyebrow to the 11 year old sitting across from her, "Since when did you get so philosophical Draco Malfoy?" She teased.

* * *

It was finally time for Hermione and Draco to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hermione had entered onto the platform with Draco but he had mysteriously disappeared and she was on her own trying to find a place to sit.

As she walked through the train she happened to stumble upon Draco, except there were two boys and a girl in the compartment as well. She was about to speak but the girl had looked her over with disgust, "Sorry this compartment is full."

Hermione looked at the girl in surprise, then to Draco who sat silently staring at her. "Fine, I'll find somewhere else." She then slammed the door shut.

Finally she found one with only two people, she opened the door, "Hello, my name is Hermione Granger, everywhere else if full, do you mind if I sit with you two?"

The two boys looked up in surprise at the intrusion and then finally they smiled the one with black hair and glasses nodded, "Sure take a seat."

The red head stuck his hand out, "I'm Ron Weasley." Hermione smiled and shook his hand, and then the one with glasses stuck his hand out, "I'm Harry Potter." Hermione shook his hand as well, "Pleasure to meet you." She told them both.

"Are either of you new to this world?" Harry asked, Ron shook his head no, and Hermione nodded yes, "Yes but I've already read everything for the first year so if you need help you can ask me. Speaking of which, may I help you with something right away?"

"Uh, sure." Harry replied. Hermione smiled and pulled out her wand, "Oculus Reparo." The glasses that had been taped together were now completely fixed.

"Brilliant." Ron praised looking at the glasses.

* * *

In a few hours the train had stopped and a huge, and I mean like almost giant huge, man was leading the first years into boats. Hermione forced herself to stay calm as the boat began to rock with her stepping into it.

They rode the boats across the large lake and looked in awe of the giant castle. "Wow." Hermione whispered.

Upon entering the castle a very stern looking woman lead the students up the stairs; she stopped at the top causing the students to stop as well. "Wait here I will be right back."

As she walked away the first years began to talk amongst themselves then one voice rose over the rest. "So it's true then, Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts." The rest of the students whispered excitedly to each other about Harry Potter while Hermione groaned and rolled her eyes at Draco.

Draco walked to the front where Harry Ron and Hermione were standing, he had two large brutes following him, "This Crabbe and Goyle and I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." Hermione was glaring him up and down. Ron coughed. "Think my name is funny do you?" Draco asked then looked him up and down. "Let's see here, red hair, and a hand me down robe? You must be a Weasley." Draco sneered.

Hermione's mouth dropped open, where had the nice Draco gone that she grew up with, the boy standing in front of her wasn't-couldn't- be the same person.

"Potter, you wouldn't want to hang out with the wrong sort," Draco said eyeing both Hermione and Ron, "I can help you there."

Before Harry could even speak Hermione jumped between the boys, "You're one to talk about wrong sort Malfoy; you're nothing more than a pompous brat and poor attempt at bully. If Harry should stay away from anyone, it should be you, you're the worst sort of person I see here."

Hermione then grabbed Harry and Ron's arms and quickly stormed off towards the now opening doors.

"When I call your name please come up and get sorted." McGonagall said.

"Abbot, Hannah" "Hufflepuff!"

"Bones, Susan" "Hufflepuff"

"Boot, Terry" "Ravenclaw!"

"Brown, Lavender" "Gryffindor!"

"Crabbe, Vincent." "Slytherin!"

"Goyle, Gregory." "Slytherin!"

"Granger, Hermione." McGonagall called, "Stay calm, stay calm." Hermione said to herself. "Granger is it?" the hat asked. "Well, I sense Slytherin in your blood, but you also fit Ravenclaw. Then Gryffindor sticks out proudly in you, your courage and love shines very brightly, I'm going to say…. GRYFFINDOR!" Hermione smirked at Draco and walked off.

"Longbottem, Neville." "Gryffindor"

"Malfoy, Draco" The hat didn't even touch his head it shouted "SLYTHERIN!" he smirked at Hermione and walked off to the table of green and silver.

"Parkinson, Pansy." "Slytherin"

"Patil, Padma." "Ravenclaw."

"Patil, Parvati." "Gryffindor."

"Potter, Harry." Everyone in the hall instantly held their breaths at where the legendary boy who lived would be sorted. It appeared that the sorting hat was having trouble deciding. "Gryffindor"

"Thomas, Dean." "Gryffindor"

"Wesley, Ronald. " "Gryffindor"

"Zabini, Blaise." "Slytherin."


	3. Chapter 3

A/n: Thanks for the reviews, I'm glad I'm doing much better then the last one. Sorry about any errors, no matter how many times you check for them some just slip past ya!

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Hermione stared out of the train window; she had just completed her sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She should've been happy about the summer vacation but she wasn't.

The 'Golden Trio' had gotten into an argument over a bloody hug. Well actually Ron and she had gotten into the argument and Harry naturally sided with Ron. Hermione understood why, those two were so close that even she couldn't break the bond of brotherhood they had formed.

--

_Dumbledore announced that Gryffindor had one the house cup again for the sixth year in a row. The Gryffindor table erupted in loud cheers and Hermione had just finished hugging Neville who had yet again been the reason they beat Slytherin by a hair._

_Hermione turned to look at the Slytherin table and noticed that a certain blonde was missing. She looked to the great hall doors and noticed that Draco had just exited them._

"_I'll be back in a second." She told Harry and Ron who were too busy talking about winning the quidditch cup to really care what she was doing._

_Hermione quickly left the great hall and chased after the platinum blonde head of hair. Draco had taken a seat beside the lake and Hermione quickly took a seat beside him._

"_Congratulations." he told her with a small shadow of a smile, no smirk, an actual smile. Hermione looked at him and allowed a slight grin. "You know as well as I do that you don't mean that, you're pissed." He looked at her; "You're right I am pissed but I mean it, congratulations." Hermione looked at him skeptically then turned the grin into a smile. _

"_Draco what am I going to do with you?" Hermione asked and looked out across the lake. "Well you can give me a hug, since I was mature enough to tell you congratulations." _

_Hermione rolled her eyes, "Just one hug, then we go straight back to being enemies. Deal?" _

_Draco smirked, "Deal." They both laughed a little and Hermione pulled him in for the hug._

"_Hermione what in the bloody hell!" they heard Ron Weasley yell from behind them._

_--_

Hermione huffed at the audacity of both Harry and Ron to completely ignore her over a simple hug; it wasn't as if she was snogging the Slytherin prince. She rested her head against the cool window and thought back to her second year when she had been in the library researching the Basilisk.

--

_Hermione sighed flipping through the pages of the many books she had in front of her, she absolutely had to figure out what was going on. The teachers were completely clueless, both Harry and Ron wouldn't be much help research wise so she knew it upon herself to look it up._

_She sighed and read over the passage about the basilisk, _

"_Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which many may reach gigantic size and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster which is fatal to it."_

_Hermione stopped reading the rest of the passage and moved onto the next book in the pile. None of the victims had died, they had been only petrified, and therefore it couldn't have been the Basilisk. Plus how was the giant beast supposed to get around the school._

"_Hm, the know-it-all Granger in the library on a Saturday. Go figure." Hermione heard the familiar voice of Draco Malfoy from behind her. "Go away Draco." Hermione sighed and went on to the next book in the pile._

"_What are you researching?" he asked and picked up the book about the Basilisk. _

"_I'm making an attempt to find out what's going on in this school, since no one seems to know what's happening." She replied and glanced up to see him reading the passage on the basilisk._

"_It's not a basilisk, its stare kills people not petrifies them." She then looked back down to the page she was reading._

"_Not quite Hermione," Draco muttered, "See it says right here that if you were to see the basilisk through some sort of barrier or reflection then it would petrify you." _

_Hermione read the passage she had failed to read earlier. "Well that's all good and fine Draco, but how is the giant thing supposed to get around?" _

_Draco shrugged his shoulders, "Like I bloody know! I was just trying to help." He sneered. Hermione rolled her eyes, "Well unless you have a theory on how it's getting around the school I couldn't care less."_

_Draco sneered and started to walk away, then he paused, "Actually lately down in the dungeons the pipes have been banging and creaking a lot. Usually in the evening, I don't know if that helps but maybe you should look into it." With that Draco left the library to head to dinner._

"_Oh Merlin." Hermione gasped, finally realizing what was going on._

_--_

Her thoughts shifted from the good deed he had performed in their second year to the horrible git he had been their third year.

_--_

_Hermione growled in frustration, she was trying to keep up with the course load she had signed up for but all it was causing her was a terrible headache. In addition to that, Draco had been exceptionally mean and was bullying more and more. _

_He even tried to dual with her in the middle of the hallway when she had stopped him from picking on a first year girl on her way to potions. She huffed and began to rub her temples; this was really starting to be a horrible day. She was still upset about the fight she had with Ron and with all of the pressure on her she was about to skip classes for the rest of the day and catch up on some sleep._

"_Hello Hermione." She heard Harry say; she looked up and saw the other two of the trio. "Hello." She replied and fell into step with them as they __rounded a corner they heard Malfoy say; "Look at him blubber! Have you ever seen anything quite as pathetic? And he's supposed to be our teacher!" 'Oh that's it!' Hermione thought. She had had way too much aggravation today and she was not going to deal with the git calling Hagrid loathsome things. Hermione made her way full force toward Malfoy and his two cronies._

_"Don't you dare call Hagrid pathetic, you foul -- you evil --" "Hermione!" said Ron weakly, and he tried to grab her hand as she swung it back. "Get off, Ron!" she yelled and jerked her hand out of his grasp and in a matter of seconds her fist made contact with Draco's jaw._

_He whipped his wand out but hers was already out and at his throat. "Malfoy lower your wand." He did as she said. "Now you get out of here before I do something you and I will regret."_

_--_

Hermione smiled to her reflection in the window, Draco managed to get under her skin more than anyone else in the world which was sort of ironic when you thought about it, another memory popped up from her third year at Hogwarts.

--

_It was Christmas time and Hermione and Draco were home on the holidays to go to the annual Christmas party Draco's parents threw for the neighbors they had in the rather large Muggle neighborhood. _

_Hermione pushed through the many people as she stopped in front of the grand staircase to take a seat on the bottom stair. Her red silk dress had white fur trim around the shoulders and the bottom of the dress that fell just above her knees. On top of her head she wore a Santa hat and her hair had been curled into ringlets that landed right at her shoulders._

_She watched as Draco walked over to where she was sitting; wearing nothing but green, damn Slytherin pride even at Christmas, well, she was wearing red wasn't she? _

"_Hey." he said. _

"_hi." she replied and stood up._

"_Nice party." he told her attempting to make small talk. _

"_I guess." she replied, again smoothing out wrinkles in her dress. _

"_Oh, look! Mistletoe!" Hermione heard her mother shout, both Hermione and Draco's heads shot up as they jumped away from the offending thing._

"_Now, kids you were already under it you have to kiss." Lucius said doing the thing Malfoy's were famous for, smirking. _

_Hermione and Draco glared at their parents who were standing in the door way awaiting the kiss. _

_Draco and Hermione both sighed and stepped back under the mistletoe, they kept eye contact for a few seconds before finally Draco leaned in and pressed his lips against Hermione's soft glossed ones._

_Lucius and Narcissa smiled, that was exactly what had lead to Andromeda and Alexander to begin their relationship._

_--_

The memory that stood out most to Hermione during her fourth year was the Yule Ball. She remembered the chaos of Harry and Ron searching for dates, and how shocked they were to see her in attendance with Viktor.

_--_

_Hermione couldn't help but laugh at the attempt to teach Viktor the pronunciation of my name. "Her-my-oh-nee" she told him slowly and clearly. He focused intently as he tried to sound it out "Herm-own-ninny." _

_Laughing, she told him it was close enough; he beamed and looked out at the dance floor. "Vould you like to dance?" he asked. _

_Hermione looked over at Harry who was chatting with Parvati, and then to Ron who was sulking with Padma. Hermione rolled her eyes and made a promise to herself, that if he kept being a git to the poor girl she was going to curse him until there is nothing left._

_As the song ended and another began, Draco had walked over to the dancing couple and asked if he could cut in. Krum allowed him to do so but kept somewhat near them to make sure nothing happened to his date._

_Draco raised an eyebrow at his shorter dance partner; "So Viktor Krum huh." He then looked back at the tall Durmstrang student. _

"_He asked me and I accepted, he actually is quite the charmer." She replied and smiled to Viktor._

"_Oh yes, the incorrect way he says your name is such a turn-on." He grumbled._

_Hermione huffed and pulled away from the boy. "If you're going to insult my date then I believe this dance is over. Plus if I do recall, you have issues remembering my name as well."_

"_Alright, I'm sorry for making fun of your date." He mumbled quietly so she almost couldn't hear._

_After the ball was over and everyone was going to the after parties in the common rooms Hermione was leaving the library after dropping off the book she 'borrowed' from the restricted section. _

_Pulling the invisibility cloak tighter around her she quickly walked down the hall wanting to hurry back to the common room to finish the party. _

"_Sneaking in and out of the library, how very like you." A voice said coming out of the shadows and pulling the cloak off of the 14 year old girl._

"_What do you want Draco?" Hermione asked grabbing the cloak from his hands. "I just wanted to tell you something that I couldn't say earlier due to the witnesses." _

"_Oh and what's that?" she asked tapping her foot in irritation. _

"_That you looked really beautiful tonight, and I'm sad that I couldn't be the one whose arm you were on."_

_He had said it so softly that Hermione strained to hear him, and then when she could finally comprehend it he had already began heading back to his common room._

_--_

Hermione was brought out of her reminiscing when a group of giggling girls had walked past. Rolling her eyes she pulled out a book and flipped it open to a random page to read. Her fifth and sixth years were way too chaotic to pick out just one memory.

The only person who would talk to her was Ginny and that was after she begged her to listen so someone would know the truth about her and Draco's past present and what was to happen in the future. Sighing for the last time she lost herself in the 800 page book.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Questions answered at the end of the chapter.

* * *

Hermione looked up at the sky where the moon was out bright and full, she was sitting at her desk, writing a response to Ginny's latest owl. It was only the third week of summer vacation and she had her homework finished, leaving her almost nothing to do, her parents had decided to drop the bomb and announce about the whole 'not being her real parents' thing and such, she in turn, admitted to them that she had already known.

Draco had been over to talk to her, bug her more like it, some thirty five times in the past two days, and since the gits she had once liked to call her best friends had yet to forgive her, letting their anger make them blind to the bond they had formed, she had almost given in to the urge to talk to him, Draco that is, he was someone after all, anyone, until the brilliant idea to invite Ginny over came to her mind.

She looked over the letter quickly making sure her need of companionship was clearly relayed in the bold loopy print, many adjectives and expressive words, such as 'Malfoy', 'git', and 'pompous brat', and sent it to the youngest Weasley.

Hermione walked over to her spacious four poster bed and flopped down on it, shutting her eyes, ready to take a small nap, knowing all too well that the owl returning with Ginny's answer would wake her to deliver its keep, when she heard something tapping on the window. 'A letter this fast?' she thought and walked over to the window to open the latch and let the creature in, hoping for a caring answer to her letter, when she looked down and spotted Draco Malfoy standing below her window his famous smirk forever present on his face.

"Go away Draco." Hermione told him and went to shut the window. Her parents weren't home and she had sincerely wished that her desperation for someone to talk hadn't lead to Draco Malfoy on her lawn.

Also, Harry and Ron weren't even allowed in her home when the parents aren't there, so why in the bloody hell would she let her frienemy in.

"Granger, PLEASE! I'm desperate." He begged, attempting to do a puppy dog face. Hermione rolled her eyes, "You suck at life Draco. Come around to the back door."

Hermione walked down her stairs and cut left heading into the kitchen where the back door was. After unlocking the door she was greeted to an impatient smirk planted firmly on his face, "Come in Malfoy." He walked in and made himself comfortable on the kitchen counter, immediately assuming a position higher than her as if to preserve his sense of nobility. Hermione quickly rolled her eyes.

"So your parents told you the truth finally?" he questioned, while grabbing an apple that was conveniently placed in the big decorative bowl that was situated right smack dab in the middle of the counter, not to close to anything, just the perfect distance from everything, the sink, the stove, even the cabinets mounted up on the wall.

"Yeah." She replied softly, and then took an intake of air, "but I have known for a very long time."

His head looked up from the fruit bowl to her face which had a serious expression on it. He quickly shrugged his shoulders, "I figured as much, you are always one step ahead of everyone else. I think you get off on knowing so much." He bit into the red apple while watching her reaction.

Hermione glared at him. "Why are you here?"

He hopped of the counter, and held up his index finger, "Well number one: my parents are having a party at our home in the wizarding community and it's not exactly my idea of fun, and two:" he paused and held up his middle finger in addition to the index while looking at her up and down. "To see you in your knickers." He waited until the realization sunk in, and her face turned to horror.

She looked down at the baby blue boy cut underwear that had a monkey on the front and the white tank top with no bra. In a flash she was gone and changed. She had been woken up from her nap and not paid attention in her hope for a reply.

After a few minutes she came back down stairs wearing some shorts and put on a bra, he rolled his eyes at her. "Like I've never seen a girl in her knickers? Hello…" and he flashed a lecherous smile," Victoria's Secret." She reluctantly sat down beside him on the couch wondering all at the same time how she was keeping herself from killing the annoying git. Maybe she was just really lonely and bored.

"So have you come over here to kill your betrothed with your annoying presence?" Hermione questioned walking out of the kitchen and into the large entertainment room.

Since Draco had no choice other than to follow her, he did just that. "No as I told you before my parents are in the wizarding community entertaining their 'friends' there."

Hermione raised a brown eyebrow at the look on his face at the word 'friends'. "Death Eaters?" she asked.

He took a seat beside her on the sofa. "Yeah, I already made my appearance there and left quickly."

They sat in silence for a few moments each reflecting on their part in the future.

"So what do you have to do around here in this muggle home of yours?" he asked walking around to inspect the room he had been in so many times before.

"Your home across the street is just as muggle as this one. Or have you forgotten that this is a muggle neighborhood?" Hermione sassed.

It was Draco's turn to roll his eyes, "Thank you for pointing out the obvious, Granger. I was just reminding you that I am your guest. Entertain me."

Hermione grumbled and walked over to a cabinet. "What would you like to do Malfoy? We have video games, board games, arcade games." Hermione offered listing off the many different choices they had in the home.

Draco pondered it for a few minutes, and then finally replied, let's play a board game. What do you have?"

Hermione pulled out the selection she had which included; Monopoly, Life, scrabble, chess, checkers, operation, and many others. "You choose since you ARE the guest after all." She muttered and set them down on the table.

"Life, I've never played it before."

--30 minutes later--

"Bloody hell! Another child." Draco roared and slammed his fist down on the table.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked.

"I have so many children, I had to get a second vehicle, I keep getting these little 'life' cards, I have too much money to manage, and I'm about to retire to the millionaires mansion!" he roared not understanding why she was laughing. "What is so damn funny?"

Hermione finally stopped laughing and sighed, "Draco I've told you six times already, that means you're winning."

The pissed-off look that was on his face disappeared and smug look replaced it. "Of course, Malfoy's always win. Could I sell some of the children for more money?"

"No." she replied.

"It's okay, they're squibs, and I have no use for them."

"DRACO MALFOY!" Hermione yelled and then fell into a fit of giggles when she realized he was kidding.

--Three hours later--

"This is fun!" Draco told her gleefully.

"No it's not. You've won every single game we've played. Have you been cheating?" Hermione growled.

"I do not cheat!" he yelled at her.

"Draco, you beat me at scrabble with Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis'!"

"Okay, so maybe I cheated with that one game." He admitted with a smirk.

* * *

Hermione and Draco sat in the kitchen drinking bottled water, they both had agreed to a game where neither could cheat. Truth or Truth. Originally it was Truth or Dare but neither trusted the embarrassing things the other might make them do.

"Okay so Pansy, is she really that in love with you?" Hermione asked.

Draco snorted. "No, actually we are just really good friends, her parents don't know about the bonding and want her to marry me."

Hermione nodded and took a sip of water.

"Why do you always play so innocent?" he asked looking her dead in the eyes, his stormy grey meeting her warm brown.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, curious.

Draco let a laugh escape his throat. "Oh please, you always act like such a stickler for the rules, and yet I happen to know that you're the mastermind behind every single one of Wonder Boy's escapades."

Hermione shifted in her chair. "I wasn't the mastermind of them."

"Bullocks!" Draco replied dismissing the brunette's statement. "You had something to do with every single one of Potter's victories every year."

Hermione stared at Draco, no one except Harry, Ron, and herself knew her role in the events of past years. "I wasn't the mastermind Draco; I was just the one who made sure they used their brain occasionally."

He let out another laugh. "Okay, you don't anything to say about that. Fine."

Hermione raised an eyebrow, "Why do you want to know so badly?" she asked. "Just curious since we are playing truth or truth." He then smirked, "My turn, How is it you can reprimand other students for rule breaking when you yourself have broken just as many."

Hermione glared, why had he turned the fun little game into an interrogation? "It was my responsibility as prefect to punish those who break the rules."

He smirked again, "Yes, so why didn't you reprimand yourself?"

Huffing she responded, "I don't bloody know!"

Draco stood and walked over to the counter she was leaning against, he placed his hands on both sides of her, locking her in place. "Want to know what I think?" he asked.

"Not really."

"Too bad." He replied and leaned in closer to her, "I think that a tiny little part of you enjoys being bad." Hermione snorted at this, "I'm a Gryffindor, Malfoy, if I break a rule it's for a legitimate reason, I don't get my kicks out of sneaking out."

"Ah, but I think you do, Slytherin runs in your blood. Slytherin's happen to be cunning, just like you, love." He told her his breath on her face.

"Okay, Draco what are you playing at? What's with the sudden change in demeanor?"

"I'm a sixteen year old boy, I've got raging hormones." He replied smirk still on his face. "Plus I've got a feisty little Gryffindor who has the smallest inkling to break rules."

"Oh lord, do get-" Hermione started and tried to push him away but instead he grabbed her wrists and pulled her lips to his.

Hermione froze slightly and then instantly responded to his kiss, his lips were both soft and warm and felt as if they matched perfectly with hers. They kissed feverishly until they heard a pop; quickly breaking apart they turned to see Ginny Weasley and Bill Weasley standing in Hermione's kitchen. "Leaving. Quickly." Bill muttered. He had to drop Ginny off since she was still a year too young to learn how to apperate correctly.

"I got your owl, and deemed I should pay you a visit before you kill yourself from boredom, however, I see someone else came to save you from yourself." Ginny told the couple.

"Well I came over for a nice chat, and then Granger just threw herself at me. Horrible really." Draco offered as a reason to the kissing that had just taken place.

Hermione gasped at the lie, and began shoving him out the door he had entered hours earlier. "Drac- Malfoy was just leaving."

Once she had the door shut and locked and tried to give a smile to Ginny who just stared with arms crossed. "Would you like some tea?" Hermione asked.

"Anyway." The youngest Weasley said taking a seat at the breakfast table. "This is where you live?" she asked looking around the grand estate. Hermione nodded happy at the conversation change.

"I guess the Granger's wanted a big house to raise you in after your parents died." Ginny offered as an explanation.

"Um, not exactly," Hermione mumbled, embarrassed to be speaking money with a girl who had next to none. "The Granger's are rich all on their own."

Ginny noticed the look on Hermione's face and quickly said, "But don't you worry Bill and Charlie are making plenty enough for the family to stay all warm and cushy. You're lucky Mione, you have two parents' fortunes to your name and when you marry in to the Malfoy family you'll also have theirs."

"Oh yes, so bloody lucky I have to marry that git, and spend the rest of my life with him. Go Hermione." Hermione muttered irritably.

Ginny giggled and grabbed a plate from the fridge, "So tell me about this interesting night that led to a snogging session in your kitchen."

Hermione groaned at the redhead. "Do I have to?"

* * *

**Remember last chapter? Hermione told Ginny everything that is how she knows about the Bonding and stuff.**

**Margaritama – Good! Don't read the original it's HORRIBLE! I mean that honestly the only thing that made it even half good was the Beta. Anyway to answer your questions.**

**-Do any of them know her real parentage?**

**-- Yes. They both know.**

**-Will I do it like the books or make it my own?**

**--Honestly I'll make it my own most likely I have many different endings worked out I just have to figure out which one I'll use.**

**-Does Draco know that they are to be betrothed?**

**--Yes. He was taught all about it at a very young age.**

**-Does Hermione know that they are to be betrothed?**

**--Yes, she knows they are to be bonded and she knows that will have to involve a ceremony, so she deduced that they would have to share the ultimate bonding process which is marriage.**

**-Does Hermione even like Ron?**

**--Yes, as a brother. Not anything more, I never liked the Ron and Hermione ship. I'll NEVER read one with them together, I just don't like it. So in this fan fiction they will NEVER EVER be together lol.**

**-I noticed that no one from Slytherin bothers her, is this because of Draco?**

**--I wouldn't say that exactly, but I was focusing in the past in order to get to the present and in Hermione's memories she wouldn't want to focus on someone like Pansy she wants to focus on Draco.**


	5. Chapter 5

**An: Sorry about the long wait, I was working and going to school full time and I just sort of slipped away from the HP fandom. I PROMISE I will finish this story. So in my apology for it taking so long, I'm going to upload several chapters for two reasons. One being the long wait, and Two they didnt change much from the original. **

* * *

Hermione groaned in protest at the sun hitting her in the eyes. "Bloody hell." She cursed and rolled out of bed.

She glanced over at the redhead who was still snoozing away. "The Weasleys could sleep through anything." She grumbled to herself and made her way downstairs to make breakfast.

A few minutes after the omelets were finished Ginny stumbled into the kitchen carrying the morning post. "Here." She grunted and handed the mail to Hermione before digging into the food.

Hermione flipped through the post and landed on a letter from her mother, she quickly tore it open.

_Dearest Hermione, _

_How is your summer vacation going? I'm so sorry we couldn't bring you on the trip with us, it pains me every day that you're not here. I did send a letter to your friends and told them to visit you. Ron was quite rude in his reply and I want you to have a stern talking to with that boy, while Harry didn't reply at all. Ginny, however, said she was on her way to visit you so I'm going to assume that she is already there. Hello dear!_

_Anyway, I didn't want you to be bored all summer, and your father and I decided it was time for you to have your home. The Verona home, that is. From what I've seen, it's almost as large as Hogwarts. There are millions upon millions of galleons left in your name. _

_By giving you this home, you are now officially a Verona; however, in our hearts you will always be our one and only Hermione Elizabeth Granger. I wish we could help you uncover your past but it is for you alone to discover. I love you so much, and I want you to know, even though you aren't our blood daughter, your father and I could never be more proud of you then we have been the past sixteen years._

_Much love, _

_Mum and Dad_

_P.S. Touch our names to be taken to your home. It works as a portkey? I believe that was what Narcissa told us. Whatever that is. _

_P.S.S. We plan on being home at the end of the month so I want a visit before you head back to Hogwarts!_

Hermione read the letter over and over. She couldn't decide if she was happy to learn about her birth family, or depressed that she was now leaving behind the 'Granger' part of her life.

"So when are we going?" Ginny asked reading the letter over Hermione's shoulder.

"We're not." Hermione answered and set the letter down.

"Why not?" Ginny questioned.

Hermione sighed, "Because if I accept the Verona name, then I am no longer a Granger, and I understand that I am truly a Verona, but the Granger's have taken care of me for years. I'm not turning my back on them."

Ginny stared at her best friend for a good long while. "Mione, do you not realize that you are a Granger no matter what? Sure Verona runs in your veins, but the Granger's made you what you are today. You can never stop being you."

Hermione pondered this thought for a few seconds and smiled sheepishly, "You're right, Ginny. The Granger's are my parents; they were there for me through the troubling times and loved me like their own. That's what it truly means to have parents, when they love you unconditionally no matter the circumstance."

Ginny nodded happily. "Exactly." Hermione raised an eyebrow, "You just want to see what the place looks like don't you?"

Ginny blushed, "Well, I never…… yeah okay; I really want to see it."

The girls shared a laugh, "Alright lets go see our new home." Hermione told the younger girl.

"Our?" Ginny questioned. Hermione smirked, "Yes, you read the letter the home is apparently huge, and I would very much like to have a roommate."

Ginny squealed with glee and hugged the brunette, "I loveyou so much Hermione Elizabeth Granger," she pulled away and looked her in the face, "and as your best friend I must tell you that that smirk resembles a certain Slytherins to a tee. They say when two people are truly in love they pick up each other's nasty habits-"

Hermione glared, "Hush or I'll charge you rent."

The red head was silenced; they both laughed and touched the names in the letter.

The well known tug behind the navel pulled at both girls as their surroundings changed and they were out of the Granger kitchen and standing on a pebbled pathway leading to a castle like mansion.

"Damn." The fifteen year old redhead muttered.

A small girl around the age of ten walked over to the stunned witches.

"Are you Miss Hermione Verona?" she asked in a soft polite voice.

Hermione nodded dumbly. "This is my best friend Ginny Weasley."

"How do you do Misses." The girl curtsied and smiled brightly. "My name is Minty and I have been told to give you a tour of your new home."

The tiny blonde girl then walked down the path pointing out many different things sounding very much like an official tour guide.

"The gardens have every type of flower in the world in them, except the dangerous ones, those are kept in the greenhouses around the back." She told them and pointed out some of her favorites on the way to the large double doors.

When they finally reached them Ginny took her pause as an opportunity to ask questions, "How old are you?"

Minty smiled slightly, "I am 145 years old, and to answer the next question that is about to come out, I am very much like a house elf, with the exception that I can be in either forms, human or elf."

Hermione gasped, she had never heard of that breed of elf. "Now there is a lake that leads to a larger ocean, all magical, you do have a house boat, there is a forest surrounding the house, a Quidditchstadium is contained within the said forest, stables with about 15 horses, you also have7 jet skies to enjoy on the lake." Minty paused to take a breathbefore going on with her description of the rest of the castle.

"How come I've never heard about your kind?" Hermione asked not really caring for the other stuff just that she might learn something new. "Because we know what happens in the private homes of our cousins, the house elves, if we were to get out," Minty shuddered "if word about our kind was to get out I mean, then there's a lot that could happen to us as well as our cousins, there are only 3 families that know about us, the Snape family, the Malfoy family, and, of course, the Verona family."

"How many of you work here?" Ginny asked.

Minty paused to do calculations, "Well there are 50 working in the kitchens, 35 cleaning, 60 to take care of the gardens, and I think 5 personal servants so about 150." With that she began to tell them more about the house in her fast clear voice. "There are 7 bathrooms on the first floor and 10 on the second, 3 master bedrooms, and 12 regular, one large kitchen, two dining rooms; one for just family and friends and the other for parties, there's a ballroom, a library that rivals that of Hogwarts, Miss Andromeda was overly fond of reading, plus just about anything else you can think of, I think." she smiled and led the girls into a sitting room where snacks were.

"Wow, Mione you hit the jackpot." Ginny told her while eating cakes.

Before Hermione could respond Minty walked into the room, "Sorry to interrupt but I am here to inform you that Master Snape is here." She then bowed and walked out of the room.

Both Hermione and Ginny were frozen in place. "Snape…." Ginny mumbled. "Snape." Hermione confirmed in the same tiny voice.

"Nice to see you two as well." the silken voice entered the room from the doorway.

"Hello Professor Snape." Hermione greeted trying to keep the distain out of her voice.

"Miss Verona." He greeted with a curt nod.

He walked past them searching for the living room, mumbling to himself as if trying to remember where the sought for room lurked, until he came to a large and airy space that put Hermione's old ballroom to shame or so thought Hermione as she gaped at the huge windows that made up much of left side of the room. Snapehowever did not halt until he reached the comfortable sofa and sat down with a deep sigh waiting for Ginny and Hermione who were following closely behind.

"Miss Verona, I came over to see how you were feeling about this whole new arrangement, I mean the move to new home, the discovery or more over the realization of your true family, and you newly acquired powers must be very hard on your small brain." he said in a semi-sarcastic manner.

Hermione narrowed her eyes at the professor she then turned to Ginny, "Gin, would you mind exploring the rest of the house…castle thing while I have a chat with the professor."

"Sure thing." Came the reply, she walked out the door looking to the left and then to the right and walked left then a few seconds later she was seen by the remaining occupants of the room passing the doorway yet again only this time heading right. Hermione almost laughed at her friend's disorientation and confusion but stifled it once realization dawned upon her; that would most likely be her for the next month or so.

"Professor you said something about a new 'family', now what did you mean?" she finally looked to the Potions Master voicing her own confusion and wonder at the only person who seemed to have answers.

"Miss Verona, you know how your parents passed on right?" he asked, his voice small and sad as though he was certain that she already knew or suspected something fairly gruesome, so without waiting for her to voice her response he continued to ramble on.

"Well, as you are likely to already know they refused to join Voldemort which was rather odd since nearly all purebloodsdid, well, except the Weasley's; which was a most expected but slightly foolish choice at the time." he raised his eyebrows as if surprised at his own words, "Anyhow, I was a Death Eater and the Malfoys were DeathEaters. Your parents were best friends with the Malfoys and as for me…well... umm… uh… I-" he broke off looking away from Hermione but she could sense he was somewhat upset and resentful. She could sense his emotions as well as the aura that surrounded him and it was the color of grayish charcoal.

Ever since she could remember Hermione could read and sense aura's it was one of her gifts. 'Hmmm… gray….now what on earth does that mean???' she struggled to remember and then it hit her like a ton of bricks 'Ah-ha…it is depression…sadness…he must have been really close to my parents.' she thought determinately.

"Well I was very close friends with them as well; anyway on the night they died Voldemortcame to me and asked me of their whereabouts because they had voiced their wish to join him and I believed him even though I knew it went against everything they ever believed in. I was so happy about them joining that I gave it away without thinking about the possibility of it being a trap and when the probability of such finally did hit me it was already far too late. I came here as soon as I could and I found them in the study: dead." A tear rolled down his face as he continued, "I had given them over to the hands of my so-called 'master'" he spat the word out as though it was poison. "The only thing missing was the Verona's only child. I had figured Voldemort cursed the baby into oblivion."

"After he was done here he went to the Potters' and killed them but he was unable to kill Harry..." he looked up at her the manic glint in his eyes softening to a dull rage, "not Harry: no, he had to live. You see that's why I hated Potter when he came to Hogwarts I thought you had died in Voldemort's attack, I thought he had killed you in the same ruthless way he ended the lives of your parents. I hated Potter because I thought that he lived when the others I loved didn't. Hermione your mother was my stepsister; I'm your step uncle."

"Umm, Professor," Hermione looked at him questioningly, tears prickling at the corners of her eyes, unsure of what to say, "I don't know what drug or drugs you may be on at the moment but let me take a minute to remind you of a simple and infinitely unalterable fact: you hate me, as well as, Harry and Ron and Ginny for that matter." Hermione said almost hysterical at the influx of tragedy that could happen in only two hours on one night so many years ago.

"No, I only thought I hated you because Potter was getting the life you deserved; perfect friends, winning the house cup, all star Quidditch player! You were part of that formula of perfection and I hated you, or thought I did, just because you were part of a life that I believed was stolen from you so many years ago. It wasn't until you became a 5th year I realized who you were and when I went to Albus about it he merely laughed!" Snape growled in frustration at the respectfully kooky old man.

Hermione couldn't help but laugh herself; after all she had never witnessed her normally cool, aloft teacher exhibit so much emotion and this only proved to her the strength of the bond he and her parents must have shared.

"Soon after Lucius heard about their deaths we both went to Albus as we decided to turn traitor to our half-blooded 'master' and became spies for the light." he looked at her and saw respect shinning through in her eyes.

"You grew up with my mum; what was she like?" Hermione asked.

"Well she was a lot like you in some ways; always reading she was exceptionally skilled in every subject, even The Dark Arts…" he saw the horrified look in her eyes and quickly said, "…She never used it on others except to defend herself. She first picked it up in forethought to prepare herself in case she ever needed to use that knowledge to protect those she loved against tyrants like Voldemort..." he saw the relief on her face and smirked at the predictability of his niece.

"She was best friends with Lupin, Potter, Black, Evans, Lucius, Narcissa, and Me. She never liked Pettigrew, knew he was trouble and did a marvelous job of reminding me and Lily every chance available. She had many, many gifts and she was always right alongside Lilly telling James and Sirius to back off. It was very odd for a slytherin to be hanging out with people from another house, but that was Andromeda Verona, she did what she wanted."

Hermione noticed when he spoke of Lilly his aura changed to a red pink that signified love and passion.

"You cared a lot about Lilly didn't you?" Hermione asked gently as her eyes filled with tears once more for she could sense the terrible amount of loss he had felt when the young woman died, he had been the cause the death of his only two friends.

He looked up in shock and then realization "You've started getting your gifts I see, and yes, I did care for her I may have even loved her but my father was always going on and on about pureblood this and pureblood that so there was almost no way for me and her to be together. Lilly even loved me for awhile then I had to stop seeing her. Andromeda warned me not to get close to her but after all of her harping and subtle hints to drop and abandon my 'crush', as she preferred to call it, I did it anyway and for a time it was wonderful to love and be loved…" he trailed off looking as though his very heart was ripped forth from his chest, "…that summer was the worst of my life; I was beat nonstop, I was raped, mutilated, disfigured, you name it and I'm sure as bloody hell it's been done to me. I remember that at some point I cursed all the medicinal magic that had ever existed for if they couldn't heal me there would have been a certain point when they had to halt their torture. My only hope during those awful times was that I might see Lily again but when I got back she and James Potter were dating…." Severus Snapesighed deeply as if broken by that very thought, "…and by the end of the year they were married. That was why I joined the Death Eaters; my first kill was my father." his aura was back to a dull gray.

"What sort of gifts will I 'get'?" Hermione asked changing the topic.

"Well you will expand your already existing telepathic abilities, you already can sense peoples auras and decipher, you will most likely develop the powers of a seer, you will be able to do wandless magic once you come of age for if I remember correctly that's when Andromeda discovered that power within herself and other such small things." he replied.

"How will I learn how to control all of my new powers?" she asked cocking her head to the side. "I will train you." he said simply and decisively as if he was talking about dinner.

"You will train me?" she questioned. "Yes." He replied. "No offense sir, but if my powers will go beyond yours, then how can you help me control them?"

He smirked, "Mister Malfoy will be assisting. The whole point of bonding you two was to keep the power in balance."

"In balance?" she questioned again, confused at his now short answers.

"Yes, Miss Verona, one person cannot have that great of power without a price, which is why we balance it out through Draco Malfoy, think of him as a ground through an electrical current."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Severus spoke again. "This was a lovely chat and all but I must be going," he directed this last part towards the door; "Miss Weasley you may enter!"

Ginny walked into the room and blushed that she had been caught eavesdropping. Snape then left with his robes billowing behind him.

"Well that was definitely intense." Ginny muttered. Hermione just nodded and replayed the conversation over in her brain.

"I have an idea!" Ginny squealed. "What's that?" Hermione asked looking at the redheaded girl.

"Let's go shopping."

Hermione pondered the thought, "Okay, I've needed to get some new books."

--

Hermione and Ginny walked out of Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions arm in arm carrying a load of 5 bags each. "Hey look Mione there are Harry and Ron!" Ginny practically shouted wringing her arm out of Hermione's and ran off to talk to the boys forgetting all about the trio's problems. Hermione walked off in the opposite direction, trying to avoid a horrible scene she knew would result. Surprisingly she found herself in front of the Weasley twins' joke shop and walked in without a single look behind.

She was looking around the shop observing all the odd shaped things that were sold there when two arms snaked around her waist and spun her around and she found none other than Fred Weasleyholding her at arm's lengthlooking at her with mischief in his eyes. "Hey, George; look who's here!" Fred yelled while he reached a hand to ruffle her hair.

The second twin then came out to the front of the store and hugged Hermione as well.

"So Mione did Ron tell you that Fred and I bought a house?" George asked smiling.

"Really? Wow! No, Ron, Harry and I aren't on speaking terms at the moment." Hermione replied looking down at her shoes.

"Why would our dear brother be as ignorant to not speak to a beautiful witch such as you?" Fred questioned

"I'd rather not speak of it." Hermione told them smiling slightly.

"Fair enough, the trio's problems shall stay forever within the trio." George grinned.

"So Hermione, what all have you got from the wonderful place that is known as Diagon Alley?" Fred questioned peering into the mountain of bags now adorning the floor.

"Well I bought all of the school supplies required for this year, some school robes as well as dress robes, some books, ice cream, books, and some other random stuff." she said listing the things off on her fingers.

"Wow, where'd you get all of that money?" Fred asked.

"Oh just a family member." she smiled at them.

They chatted for about a half hour when Hermione decided to say her goodbyes, telling them that she felt tired and needed to hurry home. With that said she left the shop and headed toward the Leaky Cauldron and the entryway to Diagon Alley when she spotted Harry and Ron walking toward her from one end of the street so she spun on her heel determined to avoid them and would have continued in that direction indefinitely if she didn't spot Draco striding towards her from the other end of the street.

"Oh bloody hell." She cursed; shutting her eyes tightly and wished nothing more than to be home, in her room and when she opened her eyes she was looking at her bedroom. She had willed herself to be home and that's where she had ended up. "That's nifty." She mumbled.

She looked up and saw a blank paper on her bed. She turned it over and over then finally mumbled 'aparecium' deciding that the ink was concealed from her eyes by magic. Hermione smiled triumphantly when writing appeared onto the paper.

Hermione,

Your mother was into some sort of muggle type magic... she still has some books and things up in the attic if you're interested that is...

- Snape

Hermione walked out into the hall and looked at the rickety stairs leading to the attic. She slowly made her way out of her room and decisively climbed the latter rung by rung as her gaze remained trained on the sealed door; a door that apparently opened by itself. Hermione let out quite a yelp when she saw the door handle turn independently; her gaze was also locked on the door as it swung inward and opened on its own accord.

She released her iron grip on the ladder and continued to make her way up the rungs and through the open door.

It was rather nice for an attic; it had tons of light, some large couches, a table desk thing, and two large trunks in the corner. Hermione closed her eyes and tried to sense the emotions in the room when instead of picking up on the emotions left over from years past she was attacked by an onslaught of images of the past.

One image was of a brunette girl and guy, her mother and father she assumed, with their eyes closed holding hands and muttering something over and over again whatever it was sounded a lot like a protection charm or something along those lines. Then the image changed rapidly to one that featured the woman from her previous vision, her mum, flipping through a rather large book looking for something when she stopped on a certain page. She smiled, and it seemed to Hermione as if the woman had found what had searched for, the woman subsequently took a piece of cloth and marked the page after which she closed the book and placed it in a trunk and closed the lid with care. Her father walked up behind the woman she understood to be her mum holding a small bundle, that she guessed was her, they looked perplexed but happy. "I hope she finds it…" her mum said turning to her husband who in turn slipped his arm around her waist as they left the attic closing the gargantuan door behind them.

Hermione opened her eyes and walked over to the trunk that resembled the one in her vision and pulled out the large book her mother was going through. She opened it to the marked page and was shocked out of her being to find the spell and ritual instructions on how to contact and call forth a spirit.

After Hermione had made the sacred circle that was described in the directions she placed white candles around it as well as in front of her and lit them. Hermione went over the steps of the ritual silently in her head as she attempted to focus all of her strength and power on the task ahead. She bowed her head, her hair shielding her face, took a deep breath and brought her palms together in a praying fashion. Hermione then attempted to gather all of her thoughts and focus them on her mother she began saying the spell;

"Guardians of the spirit realm;

I ask for your assistance in guiding her to me;

I ask only that you send Andromeda Verona to me;

Allow none other than her to come forth;

Only may she enter this sacred place."

There was a light breeze accompanied by a slight murmur and when she opened her eyes her mother was standing in front of her. "Hermione, my love, I cannot stay long the spirit realm doesn't allow this."


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Sorry about the long wait, I was working and going to school full time and I just sort of slipped away from the HP fandom. I PROMISE I will finish this story. So in my apology for it taking so long, I'm going to upload several chapters for two reasons. One being the long wait, and Two they didn't change much from the original. I know Snape is a half-blood but in my story he isn't.

Hermione looked up in shock at the floating figure in front of her. "Mum?" she questioned. The spirit of her mother smiled to her, "Yes Hermione it's me. I'm sorry I had to do this the muggle way, but the wizarding spirit realm is much more different than people realize."

"What do you mean?" Hermione questioned.

"When wizards and witches die, they are usually reborn. However in certain circumstances they are granted two options, I was rewarded for what I sacrificed in life so, in turn, I was rewarded in death. That reward interfered with my seeing you, I saw this happening so I turned to muggle magic so I could see you one last time and give you the answers you seek."

Hermione nodded, "Did you know you and father were going to die?"

"That is not what is truly on your mind, but yes, I did foresee it." Andromeda answered.

Hermione thought a few moments then hesitantly asked, "If you could see your end, then did you see the torment Snape went through?" Andromeda smiled at her daughter who was a beautiful young lady with a good strong heart and mind.

She inhaled and replied again choosing her words wisely. "Yes, I did see his peril to some point. But from where he was so….maimed I could not tell it was him, not to make an excuse, but, I soon realized who it was. You see my step-brother, was in love with Lilly Evans, my best friend, who also in turn cherished him. Then I had a vision about Voldemort attacking Lilly, a child, and James Potter, not Severus."

She paused shortly then continued, "I knew then that no matter how much they treasured each other that it could not be. They were too different, so that summer; when our father found out about them, and when Severus had almost died, I stayed with my mother, who became muggle to hide from father. I told Lily of what I saw both of my brother and of her. So that summer she started going out with James Potter never talking to Severus again. She knew it was not her destiny to be with him, had they stayed together the wizarding world would cease to exist."

"Were they soul mates?" Hermione questioned confused how if two people were meant to be together how their destiny wouldn't mesh.

"Yes." Andromeda nodded, "But what the souls seek doesn't matter, it is destinies choice, it was destiny for Harry Potter to be born, Severus and Lily will be together, but there are a series of steps one must complete, destiny decides those steps."

"Is it destiny for Draco and me to be together?"

Andromeda smiled, "I'm not allowed to reveal that, and I'm sorry my love, but the spirit realm is calling me back. I love you, and I'm proud of what you've become and will be."

Just like that the attic was silent and all was calm. When the tears hit her hand she finally realized she was crying. "Mommy." She whimpered and cried herself to sleep right there in the sacred circle.

--

When Hermione opened her eyes she noticed that she was no longer in the attic but in her larger than life bed. "Minty!" she called and in a matter of seconds the house elf was standing near her bed.

"Misses called me?"

"How did I end up in my room?" Hermione questioned.

The elf, in human form, smiled brightly at the easy question, "Masters Draco and Severus arrived last night and carried you to your room."

Hermione groaned slightly at the mention of Draco. "Thank you Minty." She then took a shower and changed her clothes.

Casting a quick drying spell on her hair she left her room and headed down to the breakfast room, where Severus and Draco were already eating.

"Just help yourselves." She muttered darkly and took a seat across from Draco.

"So what happened last night?" he questioned sipping on his orange juice.

"I meet the spirit of my mother." She responded not looking up from her bacon. The three members were then silent for the remaining time, until Severus told them he was leaving to brew some potions he would need later.

"So why did you run away yesterday in Diagon alley?" Draco questioned the brunette who was still picking around at her food.

"Because I was avoiding you, little did I know you would break and enter my home and then eat my food while I slept?" She teased.

"Ha!" he snorted, "I did no such thing, Severus let me in, AND we are going to be married so it's already half mine."

Hermione smirked, "And what's yours is mine."

Draco frowned at the many things he was protective of; he was an only child after all.

Before either of them could say anything a different house elf entered the room, "Master Draco, Master Lucius is here for you, he is waiting in the study." She then left quickly.

Hermione and Draco both left the breakfast room and headed toward the study.

As soon as Hermione crossed the threshold she was attacked with an onslaught of images of the last event that occurred in the room years ago, her parent's deaths.

She started to stumble but Draco caught her, "Hermione, are you okay? What's wrong?" he questioned looking her in the eyes.

"This is… where they died…" she sniffed, "I saw it happen." She then passed out in Draco's arms. Draco looked up to his father, "Is she going to be okay?" his voice covered with worry for the limp girl in his arms. He sat her down on the sofa.

"Her gifts are coming faster than Severus and I thought." Lucius said looking at the girls sleeping form. "What could happen, father?" Draco forced his voice to stay strong he was still shaken up.

"I'm not exactly sure but we need to start her training right away and the two of you need to finish the final bonding process." Lucius answered looking at his son's blushing face. "Draco, it has to be done if she does not finish bonding with you then all that power will kill her." Draco's head jerked up and looked his father straight in the eyes.

"Yes," he continued "Why on earth do you think everyone made a big deal out of this? That is too much power for one person alone to handle that is why we bonded her with you, because that power transfers to you and you both become one, you depend on each other for balance."

Draco looked over at the sleeping form moaning and thrashing around in her sleep. "She doesn't need me; she is so powerful all on her own." Lucius smiled at his son. "That is where you are wrong Draco she needs you more than you think now more so then ever, now I must be going Severus and I have some matters to attend to." and with that the elder Malfoy was gone.

Draco walked over to Hermione and picked her up and started to walk up the stairs to her bedroom which she had redone in Gryffindor colors he noticed. He laid her onto the bed and started to walk away when she woke up. "Draco is that you?" she asked.

He stopped and turned, "Yes." "Will you hold me?" she asked. He gave her no answer he just walked over to her and took off his shirt and shoes and laid next to her in the bed with her head on his chest and his chin resting on her head. She started to sob again, "Draco it was so horrible, both what he did to them and just seeing them die it was just too much." she stopped there and cried herself to sleep with Draco soon following.

Hermione opened her eyes and looked down at the two new arms she had mysteriously sprouted overnight. The arms were pale, leading down to pale hands and pale fingers adorned with perfectly manicured nails. She sighed, removing the hands from her person, and then walked over to her bathroom. The witch turned on her shower, stripped off her clothes, and stepped under the hot water, closing the shower curtain behind her.

As though he had sensed that something was missing, Draco woke up and with much distaste found Hermione gone from his embrace. He rose slowly and dressed before walking out of her room to the study where he knew Snape spent his mornings. "Severus, she's up. Do you want her to start training today?" Draco asked, eyeing the biscuits on the tea tray hungrily. Severus looked at the boy and his eyes clouded over with thought for a moment.

"No, actually, I wanted to teach her more about the pureblood families because she will be brought into that as soon as Voldemort finds out about her." Draco nodded his head in understanding as he stealthily nipped a biscuit and walked out of the room.

-Later-

Hermione and Draco sat in two desks akin to the ones in a muggle classroom as Snape faced them, a black chalkboard looming behind him. "Okay. Now, Miss Verona, I know I told you that we would begin your power training but I decided that you should get to know the pureblood world around you first. Do not be alarmed as you are not wholly unfamiliar with the subject. I will be asking questions about the history of Hogwarts, the choosing of professors, headmasters, the structure of the castle, and origins of certain spells. Hermione, your notorious nature as a bookworm precedes you as such you should not have a problem answering at least a few of my questions. " Hermione nodded her head, comprehending.

"Okay, first I'll start with something easy: how many Wizarding schools exist?"

Hermione immediately answered, "It depends… are you talking about in Britain, Europe, or the United States?" Snape smirked at the cheeky answer and replied. "Answer what you think."

Hermione looked at him with a thoughtful expression, counting the schools in her head, and replied "The well known ones' are Hogwarts, Durmstrang, and Beauxbatons; however, there are 50 in the United States, one per state, two in Mexico, five in Canada-" she would've continued but Snape held up a hand, silencing her. "Enough, Miss Verona."

"Let's see how well you know your own house. Who is your Head of House?" he asked her, sneering at the somewhat students before him.

"Minerva McGonagall." she said, the boredom evident in her voice. 'Really, am I a simple first year who had not been sorted?' she thought, growing tired of the Potions Master's interrogation.

"Colors, Animal, and Founder." He chanted, pacing the width of the classroom while awaiting her answer. Draco noticed the trademark smirk tugging at the corners of Severus's mouth. 'He is going to trick her. I just know it. He only smirks like that before Longbottom's cauldrons explode, giving him ample leeway to deduct points.' Draco thought.

"Red and Gold, Lion, and Godric Gryffindor." she rattled off not missing a beat.

"Good, now on to Slytherin: Head of House, Colors, Founder, Animal, and location." he had progressed in the general direction of their desks while he spoke, a step punctuating each word of his inquiry. Now, he stopped in front of her, glaring down at her in his usual superior manner.

"Severus Snape, Silver and Green, Salazar Slytherin, Snake, and in the dungeons so far that it reaches under the lake." Hermione listed, lifting a finger for each item named

"AH HA! So, it was you and your little friends that stole my potions ingredients, made the Polyjuice Potion, and later snuck into the Common Room to inquire if Draco here was the one killing the muggleborns." he smirked at her triumphantly. She looked up at him in shock that he deduced all that from a simple answer, and quickly replied "No? Ok, it was me… but I only took one ingredient!" he continued to look at her but his smirk had morphed into a small smile.

"We may continue." he spoke, mirth evident in his eyes. "Miss Verona, as there is hardly any Pureblood families left. Name the ones you know."

"Let's see, there are the Snape's, the Blacks, the Malfoy's, the Verona's, the Weasley's, and um, the Lestrange's…oh and the Longbottom's."

"Good. There are several more families, but they are of no consequence at the moment. Right, Draco and I are going to brief you on the subject of Death Eaters, those especially dangerous to you."

---4 hours later---

Hermione stretched and yawned. "Wow, I've been taught a lot more than I ever wanted to be taught about things that I never even wanted to learn about." she laughed at the confusion her statement was sure to cause.

"Miss Verona, there are three spells that I'm afraid you must learn. However unjust they are." Snape had a look in his eye that neither Hermione nor Draco liked.

"The Unforgivables." she whispered. When Snape showed no reply other than simply casting his eyes away, she immediately said "no."

"Hermione, you must. If you were to use them in the final battle, it would be a shocking discovery for them, not to mention deadly. They wouldn't expect it to come from such a righteous and outspoken protestor of the Dark Ar—." She glared at him, displaying her great aversion to the suggestion.

"No! I refuse! They are immoral, illegal, and horribly wrong! Plus, if I learned them, I would be tempted to use them, and I will not use my magic for dark spells." she spoke in a huff, her arms crossed and posture locked in protest.

"Miss Verona, the line between white magic and black magic is quite thin. Does it matter if you use dark magic to harm your enemies? I know that you shall say that it does because if you were to abstain from using dark magic, it would prove that you are not like them but as soon as you step foot on a battlefield there will be many falling dead around you at the hands of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Death Eaters will not hesitate to use an Unforgivable on their own, much less their enemies. What does it matter if you kill them, as their deaths will justify the many that they have raped and murdered? Their deeds cannot be excused or justified, but justice may be found for those they have hurt. I am not asking you to use them just to build up tolerance to them." he looked from her to Draco and back again.

"Professor, the line separating white and black is a thin one, and I'm not saying that it won't be crossed, I'm just saying I'm going to bloody damn well try not to resort to dark magic," she paused, "at least not magic that dark, especially when there are light spells more powerful than the Unforgivables." Snape sighed at her defiance. Draco remained transfixed on Hermione for the duration of her speech. "Also," Hermione added, "The only thing that matters during those three spells is the emotion behind them; if I ever have to use one then I will make sure I mean it."

"Miss Verona, at least learn the Imperius curse and how to tolerate it because that spell is the one that will predominantly targeted at you, and I don't mean on the battlefield."

She thought about his pleading offer and said, "Very well, just that one spell." He nodded as he rubbed his temples to alleviate the migraine creeping on. "Tomorrow we will start your training."

"Yes, sir." she smiled and turned to face Draco. "Want to try out the jet skies?" she questioned. He smirked evilly, "Oh very much so."

-- 2 Months later --

Hermione sat up in her room reading over one of her books for her seventh year at Hogwarts. She and Draco had successfully finished their training. They had grown to be very good friends during the last two months, but now he was away on a trip to the Caribbean for the past two weeks leaving Hermione and her dear sweet Uncle Snape home.

"Hello, Misses Hermione," the elf curtsied, popping into the room. "Hello Dandy." Hermione greeted the tiniest elf in the home. "Master Severus wants you to meet him in the ball room; he said he has a surprise for the Miss."

Hermione nodded and thanked the elf, Hermione hoped it was Ginny or Luna, they had only been allowed to visit once since the training started.

She quickly went to the ballroom and was greeted with the faces of the two people she never wanted to see again. "Well, well, well Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley." She glared and then turned to leave but Harry and Ron ran over to her and stopped her.

"Mione please listen to us!" Harry begged and the two boys fell to their knees in front of the woman. These were the two sods who had gotten mad over one measly, little, tiny, insignificant hug! The snarky, irascible, overreacting prats! Hermione was bored and lonely, she never thought she would miss Draco's smart-aleck personality and the stolen kisses they shared during training but she did. Harry and Ron were here to make her day even worse it seemed.

"Look, Hermione, we're so sorry. I don't know what came over us. We just — I don't know. Look, please forgive us?" Harry begged. Hermione rolled her eyes, "Nope." She then tried to walk away again but Harry and Ron followed still on their knees.

"Ginny told us the story about the bonding and your real parents and look, we're SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE US!" Ron screamed.

Hermione stared at the two boys who were begging. "I don't know. What do you think Uncle Severus?" she asked the man who had been watching with a smirk on his face. He looked at the puppy dog faces the two boys were making.

"I don't care what you do, Hermione." He looked to his nieces face, "Personally I vote to curse them into oblivion but whatever choice you make, please let it involve them shutting their traps; they are disturbing my potion making." He then turned on his heel and left, smirk still on his face.

Hermione looked down at the boys hugging her around her waist begging forgiveness. "Fine, I'll forgive you if you both get your arses up here and hug me properly."

Both boys jumped up and hugged their best friend. "Mione we've missed you!" they cried.


End file.
